12 Reasons to Stop Multitasking Now!

Multitasking is overrated. Here are some surprising ways it can make you lessnot moreefficient.

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Your memory may suffer

It makes sense that if you try to do two things at onceread a book and watch television, for examplethat you’re going to miss important details of one or both. But even interrupting one task to suddenly focus on another can be enough to disrupt short term memory, according to a 2011 study.

When University of California San Francisco researchers asked participants to study one scene, but then abruptly switched to a different image, people ages 60 to 80 had a harder time than those in their 20s and 30s disengaging from the second picture and remembering details about the first. As the brain ages, researchers say, it has a harder time getting back on track after even a brief detour.